Democrats finally made their move against US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives will open an impeachment inquiry over a phone call Trump had with Ukraine's president about Joe Biden and his son.
"The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution," Pelosi said after meeting with House Democrats in the basement of the Capitol. "The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law."
The phone conversation was reported to be part of a whistle-blower complaint that the Trump administration has not turned over to Congress.
The probe will center on whether Trump sought help from a foreign government in his bid for reelection next year. Former vice-president Joe Biden is a top contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.
While Trump admits he discussed Biden with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July phone call, he has focused instead on raising charges that Biden improperly tried to halt a Ukrainian probe of Burisma Holdings, a natural gas company. Biden's son, Hunter, served on the board of directors from 2014 to 2019.
Trump, who was meeting with world leaders at the United Nations, called the impending inquiry a "witch hunt" and predicted it would be a "positive for me".
Reuters contributed to this story.
